Finding Text
2025‐001 Significant Deficiency: Return to Title IV Funds (U.S. Department of Education - William D. Ford Direct Loan Program, ALN #84.268; Federal Pell Grant Program, ALN #84.063; Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant, ALN #84.007; Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education Grant, ALN #84.379) Criteria: In accordance with the 2024-2025 Federal Student Aid Handbook and 34 CFR 668.22, a school must calculate the amount of earned Title IV funds by applying a percentage to the total amount of Title IV program assistance that was disbursed and that could have been disbursed. Aid included in this calculation to be prorated includes assistance from the Direct Loan, Federal Pell Grant, Iraq and Afghanistan Service Grant, TEACH Grant, and FSEOG programs. Statement of Condition: During the audit, the Return to Title IV calculation for one student failed to include all aid disbursed or able to be disbursed in step one. Therefore, the calculated percentage of aid earned was applied a limited portion of the student’s federal aid, resulting in incorrect fund totals being returned. Questioned Costs: The known monetary error is $220 excess Federal Pell Grant funds being retained on the student’s behalf. During the audit, all students meeting the criteria to warrant a Return to Title IV calculation were tested, so no extrapolation of the monetary error is necessary beyond the identified error. The monetary impact of this deficiency does not exceed the reporting threshold of $25,000. Perspective Information: The audit included a detailed testing of 9 files for students who withdrew mid-term during the 2024-2025 award year who had received Title IV awards, requiring the University to complete a Return to Title IV calculation. Of these students, this mistake was identified in one instance. Therefore, we consider the error rate as 1 out of the 9 total applicable students, which is 11.11%. Cause and Effect: This error was caused by an oversight by the personnel completing the Return to Title IV calculation, resulting in miscalculation of total Title IV aid earned. Recommendation: The director of financial aid completing any Return to Title IV calculations should ensure that all applicable aid is included in step one of the worksheet. Proper measures may be put into place to verify information input and review the calculation as a whole. View of Responsible Officials: The University concurs with the finding and has provided education and training for the staff responsible for refund calculations. The University will strengthen review procedures of refund calculations in the next award year to ensure compliance with federal guidelines.